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| Demystifying TV jargon |
| Leslie D'Monte / Mumbai Aug 08, 2011, 00:54 IST |
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Step into any multi-brand or dedicated retail television outlet, and you will be greeted with a host of slim cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs (Yes! CRTs are not dead and they are no longer boxy and bulky), and a growing line of cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL) liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs and light emitting diode (LED) TVs.
At the outset, you may want to opt for slim CRTs if your budget is under Rs 10,000. But if you were willing to spend between Rs 20,000 and Rs 40,000, you could own a 22-inch or 32-inch LCD. You can also choose bigger screen LED-LCDs (referred to as LED TVs), web-connected or Smart LEDs, or even 3D LEDs. On an average, every 10-inch jump in screen size will set you back by a few thousands. A few 3D Edge-lit LEDs hover around the Rs 200,000 mark.
WHAT DO THESE ACRONYMS MEAN?
For starters, LCD and LED labels are all you will notice, since sales guys don’t refer to terms like HCFL (H stands for hot) or CCFL-LCDs. They simply say it’s an LCD or LED TV, which are not as power efficient as LEDs. The reality is that even LED is an LCD. It’s the backlighting that makes all the difference. LED backlighting offers improved colour gamut, contrast ratios and lower power consumption. They are also more reliable and can offer over 100,000 hours of life, compared to CCFLs (HCFLs are not common) which are often rated at 20,000 hours. But, what’s a backlight? In a typical flat screen, you have a polarised filter, followed by a protective glass layer, an LCD sheet and a light source at the back.
BACKLIGHTS
They come in two categories — white LEDs that are used often in notebooks and desktop screens. They are, in fact, blue LEDs with yellow phosphor, which gives the impression of white light. RGB LEDs consist of a red, a blue, and a green LED. LED backlights are often dimmed by applying pulse-width modulation to the supply current, switching the backlight off and on like a fast strobe light akin to an electrical switch. CCFL backlighting consists of a series of tubes laid horizontally behind the screen. In Edge-lit LEDs, the light is diffused across the screen by a special panel that produces a superb uniform colour range across the screen. Edge-lit sets are typically thinner and lighter than those that use a full array because the lighting source takes up less space. Full-array sets are thicker and heavier, but they make up for that with local dimming, which means one section of the LED panel can be dimmed while other sections remain bright. That improves blacks and contrast in the resulting picture. But, they produce a better picture.
PLASMA TVS
Now about large-screen Plasma TVs that once adorned the walls of those who could cough up their price? With players like Samsung and LG shifting focus (Sony does not produce Plasma TVs any longer) to fast-growing LCD and LED televisions, sales of Plasma TVs have been flat for the last six months. Plasma TVs once held the proposition that the picture quality was better than LCDs. Their strengths include the dark blacks, and overall picture consistency, which (unlike CCFL or LED) doesn’t exhibit colour shifts, loss of saturation, or reduced contrast when viewed at wider angles. This means that with Plasma, you need not sit in the center to view it best. However, these advantages are diminishing rapidly. LEDs TVs are getting larger and they no longer claim the 20-30 per cent price premium over Plasma TVs.
3D LEDS
These, on their part, are bringing the internet into your living room by not only offering movies in 3D but also allowing users to connect to the net using a browser. Manufacturers are luring consumers with full HD (1920x1280 resolution), internet video, widgets, Skype, web browsers and noise reduction features. The TV offering is typically bundled with a free sound woofer, 3D Blue Disc Player with an HDMI cable, a few 3D Blue Ray movies and two 3D glasses.
In sum, LED (or LED-LCD) TVs score over Plasma TVs and the older LCDs (CCFL-LCDs). What you decide to buy, however, will depend on how much you are ready to spend.
Here’s what other people are buying. According to a new DisplaySearch report, LCD TV shipments are forecast to increase from 192 million in 2010 to 210 million this year. Emerging regions, which include China, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Eastern Europe and West Asia/Africa, will have the strongest flat panel TV growth over the next four years, averaging 17 per cent growth per year. The Asia Pacific region is positioned for strongest growth as the late-adopting India market begins to boom.
Technologies like LED backlights and 3D, are helping to keep overall LCD TV prices very stable in 2011. LED-backlit sets will account for about 46 per cent of total 2011 LCD TV unit shipments, while 3D-capable sets account for eight per cent. Plasma TV continues to be a relevant part of the global flat panel TV industry, but is seeing slowly shrinking market share as LCD continues to grow.
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